Dave wrote:
>Hi all. My turn to ask questions. My 69+ was a race in the 70's,
>subsequently stored in boxes, now being lovingly reassembled As It >Was.
>Here are my questions for anyone who may know...
>- any expreience with 185 / 70 13 tires re body contact on hard
>driving?
My experience with the 185's on the rear was no problem ever.
With a 185 on the front they hit and rubbed most of the time unless it was
the smoothest of roads. This was with the stock suspension. I did run a
combination of 175's on the front and 185' on the rear with no problem.
>- Aproximate ride height using same tires (centre of wheelwell)
I liked the additional ground clearance I had with the 185's on the
back. The exhaust system didn't seem to hit as much stuff;-)
You might find this URL useful as it compares tire diameters and
percentages in speed error when looking at different tiresizes.
http://powerdog.com/tiresize.cgi
>- Koni shocks. I have a set that, even set full soft, require
>herculian effort to rebound. Great for race, but has anyone else used
>them? I had Spax adjustible on my TR 6 and they were very different.
Currently I am running Koni's all around. I did not notice them being
unusually hard to move on the soft setting when off the car. They might seem
hard compared to a worn out Armstrong or other old stock shock.
> - Spring rates. I have 2 sets. Stock, and 800 (!?! yes, 800) lb
>sets. Anyone out there used the 330 lb Triumphtune or similar? Other
>comments? It will be a play car but I'd rather not guess right now
>since I will be taking a long trip this summer and I like my kidneys.
On some advice from the racers on the list I went to the 330 lb springs
on the front. Anything more lowers the front and is too stiff for the street.
The 330 lbs lowered the front end slightly (maybe 1") and still provides a
good ride on the street/highway. The handling is much improved. Interestly
the unsprung length was almost the same as the stock ones in the compressed
position. This makes insertion and removal easy with out the need for spring
compressors when wanting to change the setting on the Konis.
As it sits now my MKIII GT6 has the Koni's set in the middle or half
way setting, 330 lb springs, and a set of 175x70's on stock wheels (for
concours) and 6" minilites with 185X60's for the front and 185-70's for the
rear. The wider tires make a big difference in the tendancy of the car to
skid straight when the tires are turned (like with the skinny tires).
I am thinking of going to some 205x60's for the rear. It looks like they
will fit but I am not sure if I am overlooking something. When I put the
175x60's on the rear there is so much area still in the rear wheel well that
the car starts to take on a low rider look that I am not interested in.
>There will be many more questions for those of you out there...if you
>have, or have had, a similar car, i'd love to hear your experiences.
Anytime,
Richard Ceraldi
71 GT6 MKIII KF166L
Austin, TX
www.exact.com/~gt6mk3
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